Affinity
: For Elemental enemies, see Phantom "Elemental" affinities are the traditional elements of , , and . This distinguishes them from the affinities of and , which among other differences, do not have enhancement spells for armor or weapon affinity bonuses. Affinity is affected as Class, but rather than a continuum, it is based on a set of opposites. * Physical is opposed to all the Elemental affinities and and too. When Physical goes up, it has a tendency to be very destructive to other affinities, sometimes reducing two or more at a time * and are opposed Elements: Air-based attacks can reduce Earth affinity and vice versa * and are opposed Elements * and are an opposed pair. They could be called Elements, but for the purposes of these guides, the distinction of Elements is valuable Weapon combinations are counterindicated until the player has a really good idea what they are doing with Affinities. See Combinations Affinities are as important as Class in Damage calculations, but it is a greater challenge to master the art; ie, it is easier to remember Class, even Slimes being Beasts, than guess correctly whether that particular Slime there is Water or Dark affinity. Either can be exploited easily with Gems. The amount of time spent raising Affinities by wandering through Lea Monde should be compared with the time spent using Dummies (Entities#Dummies). Armor can benefit well from repeated castings of elemental guard spells. Affinity bonuses of an item in the beginning, when it is first dropped, are fairly predictable, based on its material. Note that this is not true of all drops, and items from Chests, which can vary in their bonuses. Affinity can be altered by Crafting. One of two things is highly advisable to do with weapons at the start, and it should be done as soon as possible. :Either: ::Designate (renaming helps) each of three weapons a separate task. One is for killing and Class enemies. One is for killing s and s. The third is for killing and . As long as this format is adhered to, Ashley's weapons will never ever lose Class points. Elemental affinities will come and go, perhaps making dwindle away to a minus, or Physical may grow and push out hard-won Elemental affinities, but the most precious resource of all, Class, will only get stronger and stronger. ::Alternatively, Entities' are quite often significantly more vulnerable to damage Type: Blunt, Piercing, or Edged. Outside of Phantoms, enemies are much less likely to have easily predictable vulnerabilities to an affinity, other than Undead, to . Class and Affinities when Combining See Raising armor, Raising weapons, Combinations and All High Two Class and Affinity values are always retained when Combining Items; the highest number, and the lowest number, with one exception. If the lowest number on one piece is met with the highest number on another piece, the highest number prevails. In this way, bonuses of 100 on everything can be created easily. In the Three Weapon strategy, one blade or equipment specializes in Human and Phantom Class, another Beast and Dragon, and a third Undead and Evil. In the same way, a blade or equipment specializes in either of the opposing affinities, but not the other: Air or Earth, Fire or Water, and Light or Dark. Ideally, another specializes in the opposing affinities, and a third specializes in Physical, but this must be balanced with the Class. Class will be impacted if two or less items must be combined, and any time Physical must be on the same item as other affinities, they will be. Class, can be simpler, if the classes are raised in order. Raising Human, for example, will impact some Undead points, and Undead, many Phantom points, but at least there is no switching back. Physical points should be gained first, if the number of affinities potentially lost is two or more, to avoid travel time. Physical lost to subsequent Affinity gains must be regained, potentially losing affinities again. The gains will, on average, outstrip the losses, however, and saving and reloading in the event of unwanted losses can help. See Also * Affinity, Class and Type in Vagrant Story * Combine * Material * Raising armor affinities and class in Vagrant Story * Raising weapon affinities and class in Vagrant Story * Workshop Citations Category:Game Mechanics Category:Guides Category:Workshop